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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T





SPONSOR: Maes DATE TYPED: 02/22/99 HB
SHORT TITLE: Retain Economic Development Specialists SB 625
ANALYST: Hadwiger


APPROPRIATION



Appropriation Contained
Estimated Additional Impact
Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY99 FY2000 FY99 FY2000
$ 2,650.0 Rec. GF

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)



Duplicates/Conflicts with/Companion to/Relates to



SOURCES OF INFORMATION



LFC Files

Economic Development Department (EDD)



SUMMARY



Synopsis of Bill



The bill would appropriate $2.65 million general fund in FY2000 to the Economic Development Department (EDD) for the following purposes:





Unexpended balances would revert to the general fund at the end of FY2000.



Significant Issues



This bill addresses three general priorities of economic developers in New Mexico: increasing funds for economic development advertising, promoting rural economic development and providing research funds to help counties identify strengths and weaknesses in the economic development packages that they offer to companies considering relocating to New Mexico.



According to EDD, the funds proposed for advertising, cooperative advertising, county inventory development, and trade shows would be useful in accomplishing the goals of that agency.



The proposed funds for economic development specialists were not supported by EDD, because the selection process would be cumbersome and not performance based. The EDD has implemented a results based program through its participation in Quality New Mexico. This would be a duplication of efforts. EDD has already assembled teams to provide the services of the proposed ten economic development specialists.



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